Methods and systems for providing easy access to information and for sharing services

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems for providing easy access to information and sharing are provided. Embodiments of the present invention enable a host to grant access to published content to one or more users in a manner in which the user(s) can scan small portions of information to decide which information is desired. The embodiments described herein enable, for example, a user to see a library of content that is larger than the storage capacity of the computing unit used by the user. The sharing of information is also secured through the use of auto-lock keys and the creation of abstract identities for the host and each user.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This is directed to methods and the use of systems to share information.In particular, the present invention is directed to providing users witheasy access to information, and for enabling users with the capabilityto share information and services.

In this information age, a great number of individuals use multipledevices such as computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), smartphones, etc. to prepare, review, revise, access and share information.For example, an individual may have multiple work computers, such as adesktop and a laptop, multiple home computers, a smart phone such asApple's iPhone, and/or other devices. In addition, that same individualmay socialize or work with various people. In some instances, peoplesimply want to be able to share the digital photos, music, etc. withfriends and family. In other instances, people want to share files withothers who have to review and/or revise documents and files created byor edited by that individual.

There are many ways in which individuals try to deal with the issue of asingle document or file existing on one or more computer-type devices.For example, the simplest solution may be to copy the file onto aportable storage device such as a flash drive, and only work on theversion of the file on the flash drive. In this manner, the individualcan use the file on virtually any computer at work, home, etc. This“solution” is not, however, without problems.

One potential problem may be related to performance, because flashdrives are limited to the speed of the flash drive interface, which maybe, for example, a USB interface. In addition, it may be difficult toback up the file without losing track of which version was backed up,and where the backup is located. In addition, it is usually impracticalto attempt to circulate a document or file for review and comment in abusiness setting using a flash drive as this is much slower than moderncomputer networks. Such review would then be limited to occurring oneperson at a time, which would likely not fit within the time constraintsof many projects.

Another common attempt to deal with this issue is to place the file on aserver that can be accessed from multiple locations. This “solution” canbe flexible, easy to set up and can operate without latency, as well asbe integrated with the platform. On the other hand, however, such a“solution” can be difficult to use, where other users may havedifficulty in locating the right file, as well as the issues of dealingwith the potential of multiple identities, even for a single person. Forexample, an individual may have one identification based on the person'sfirst name and a second identification based on a nickname. The normalsystem would treat those two as two separate users even though they are,in fact, the same individual. In addition, connectivity can be tricky,particularly when the individual may be using remote access (such aswhen the server may be located at work and the user is at home). One ormore users may have difficulty accessing the file.

Instead of using a file server as a central location to store the file,different users simply e-mail the file back and forth. E-maildistribution is, in general, free (provided the users already havee-mail access). In addition, e-mail may be the easiest system to usebecause users simply have to have the knowledge necessary to attach afile to an e-mail. E-mail access is essentially universal, and thee-mails containing the file(s) can be forwarded. E-mail distribution offiles, however, suffers from generally poor security. In addition,e-mail users are susceptible to SPAM and phishing (where someone triesto convince a user that their e-mail is from a legitimate source when itis not).

Distribution of files via e-mail also is likely to pose variousadditional problems. For example, in many instances the size ofattachments is often limited by the internet service provider to aspecific size, such as 10 MB. In addition, there can be problems in thefile becoming “stale” related to the latencies between when a file issent and when it is received, or looked at. These problems become evenmore acute when the overall size increases, such as in a situation wherethere are many users, lots of files, or very big files.

A more recent “solution” for these issues is the use of a website on theinternet as a storage location. This type of solution addresses theproblems of scalability related to the e-mail solution. In addition,there are usually no size or file-type limitations, and web sites forstoring files typically provide better than average security to theusers. The files can easily be forwarded to other users (or at leastnotice that a file is available), while providing a broad range ofaccessibility to those files.

A user utilizing the web for file distribution, however, is likely to befraught with their own sets of problems and/or difficulties. The web isessentially a stand-alone system which is not integrated well withvarious platforms. In addition, the multiple identity problem seen whenusing the sever solution is also likely to occur with the web solution.The web solution can also be prohibitively expensive while providinginconsistent features and experience for the users. Finally, andpotentially most significant, are the privacy and confidentialityconcerns related to storing files on the web.

None of these “solutions” adequately addresses the problems related tosharing large volumes of multiple files. For example, a user whosubscribes to Apple's “MobileMe” service is allocated a certain amountof storage space on a server on the internet. The user then has theability to upload the files that user wants to share with others. Eventhough the uploading and management of that service space is relativelyeasy using Apple's Macintosh computers, the amount of space is limitedand therefore requires an additional level of management. Moreover,there is no easy way for authorized individuals to know when changes tothe files stored on the server have occurred.

One of the central problems that may be related to any of these“solutions” is security. Once files are being shared, regardless of themethod of sharing, security becomes a greater issue. The issue is notsimply locking down the files so that they are only accessed by selectindividuals. The issue is broader in that the security should not becomean impediment to accomplishing the task that the shared files are merelya piece of. In this manner, the security system needs to be easy to use,if not transparent, for authorized users. The security system should beflexible and be able to work with existing systems and be able to use(but not limited to) common conventions, such as name and password orpersonal identity certificates (as outlined in the X509 specification),and the use of access control lists (ACLs).

An additional issue that occurs when dealing with the multi-userenvironment is related to higher level data and information than istypically shared and/or revised by the users. For example, none of thesolutions discussed above can be used to view and manipulate informationsuch as metadata and/or application settings that might be needed toaccompany the files being shared. Thus, context is lost and in manyinstances, the context can be critical. Without the proper settings,different users may view a file in a completely different light.

The present invention solves these problems and others, and is relatedto commonly-assigned co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______[Attorney Docket No. 104677-0210-101 (P5784US1)], filed concurrentlyherewith, and commonly-assigned co-pending U.S. patent application Ser.No. ______ [Attorney Docket No. 104677-0211-101 (P5785US1)], filedconcurrently herewith, each of which is hereby incorporated by referenceherein in its entirety.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Methods and apparatus for giving multiple users access to files andgeneral purpose information (sometimes referred to as metadata) areprovided. In accordance with one embodiment, the present invention canenable a group of users to easily and transparently share data files.This data can include massive collections of things, such as photolibraries, song libraries, movies libraries, device schematics, budgetestimates, project files, etc., or the data could be as simple as asingle file. For example, three individuals who have common friends andhave traveled together may want to be able to view and share the photoseach of them took on their travels. These photos may include individualfiles that exceed the typical size limitations of common e-mailenvironments. In addition, the size of the libraries each individual hasmay include thousands of photos that occupy many gigabytes of space.

In some embodiments, the present invention establishes ways to trackindividual items by creating “cards” for each item in a general catalog.Each item can have multiple representations each expressed though asingle unique card within a single catalog, so that it can be easilyaccessed. For example, a single photo may be represented multiple cardsas “Skiing Trip,” “Trip with the Gang,” “Skiing in Colorado,” “WinterVacation,” “Bill,” “Fred,” “Steve,” etc. This enables the systems tohave a virtually unlimited number of hierarchical organizationalstructures within catalogs. Additionally, each unique card representingthe same single photo can be placed in a different catalog. Thus for a“single” photo it can also be organized in a virtually unlimited numberof catalogs.

In some embodiments, the methods and apparatus of the present inventionprovide representations of secondary information that is associatedwith, or derived from, the primary information. For example, some of therepresentations (associated with a single card) may each be linked withthumbnail or lower-resolution images of the master images. In otherinstances, a movie file represented by a card my have different edits,the script, bills for camera rental, etc., all associated with thatsingle card. One embodiment of the invention allows both multiple cardsto represent a single “file” and at the same time multiple files to beorganized as representations of a single card.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the card catalog issignificantly smaller in size that the information it represents. Inaddition, it may be advantageous, in accordance with some embodiments ofthe present invention, to move the catalog and store it locally toenable high speed inquires even though the data it references is notstored locally. For example, when dealing with a photo library, such asa 50 GB, 14,000 image library created with Apple's iPhoto product, thecard catalog could be on the order of 2-10 MB, depending on the numberof different representations for each of the images. The significantlysmaller size of the catalog makes inquires from the user appear to beanswered almost instantaneously because they are processed locally nevergoing over a network to a “sever.” In addition, there may be multiplelevels to a catalog to provide even faster response time depending onthe needs of the user. If the user selects “search by subject—nosource,” an even smaller sub-catalog may be used by the system so thatthe response is virtually instantaneous. On the other hand, the usercould select “search by subject—from ‘Fred’” which might in oneembodiment of the invention search across the entire catalog ultimatelypresenting the user with a refined set of thumbnails to review.

In accordance with some embodiments of the present invention, a user canbe given access to all of that user's libraries (or catalogs), regardingof the computing or mobile device the user has in his or her possession.For example, assuming a user has an iPhoto library, an iTunes libraryand a project library for a new building that user is part of a team ofpeople working on (the project library might include a series of digitalblueprints, a 3D model of the building, video clips of animations ofwalking around the building, a contact list of all the people on theproject, etc.).

The user utilizes a desktop computer at home, a laptop computer fortraveling, an iPhone, an Apple TV and a desktop computer at work. Theuser, however, can be provided with access to all of those librariesregardless of which device is being used. Moreover, that access shouldbe provided to the user in such a manner that the exact location of theinformation is essentially irrelevant. That is, the user experienceshould be such that the responsiveness of system could lead the user tobelieve that all of the files and information being sought are storedlocally on whichever device the user has. If the user puts down thelaptop and picks up the iPhone to continue the task, system performanceand user experience for the activity should be essentially seamless.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the user is provided withsystems and methods for accessing various levels of information that canbe scalable like a server-based system, easily accessible like throughan e-mail-based system, while also being accessible virtually anywherelike the web-based systems. In this manner, the systems and methods ofthe present invention provide the greatest benefits of each of thepreviously known systems while overcoming many, if not all, of thedeficiencies.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the systems and methodsare configured to provide a security system that can work within theframework of existing systems, while providing additional securityneeded for a distributed architecture. For example, conventionalname/password type security and/or certificates could be employed, whilealso enabling access control lists (ACLs). The ACLs can be used to helpestablish user and group permissions, which can be set and/or updated atvarious levels, including at the user level locally, remotely or viaonline services. It may even be desirable to provide recipients with theability to set their identity (and to provide the ability to limit thisfeature via parental controls). It may also be advantageous, inaccordance with some embodiments, to provide the ability to consolidate(or link) identities to enhance ease of use for the user.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the user application candefine the level of sharing between the user and others. The location ofthe sharing can also be set by the application such that the sharing canoriginate from the local computer, from a specific machine or remotelyvia an on-line service. The system can be used to define the parametersfor the ACLs, and then the application can be responsible for applyingthose parameters. It can also be advantageous to optimize the securityfeatures for common occurrences. For example, specific sets of users canbe “burned” in as a default so that the users do not have to “recreatethe wheel” every time a user from the group tries to access theinformation for the first time. Then the default settings can beestablished so that a large majority of the cases are covered withoutthe user having to reconfigure the system. In one embodiment of theinvention configuring a system is a simple task of changing a selectnumber of clearly understood defaults. This is as opposed to traditionalsystems where configuration can require going through “screens andscreens” of arcane configuration options and settings.

In accordance with methods and apparatus of some embodiments of thepresent invention, the system and/or application can auto-generateabstract identities of authorized users such that the publisher does notneed to be aware if a user changes their identity. Thus, users can, andlikely will, end up with multiple identities, some of which will bepublicly known and others will be known only internally to the system.In order to accomplish such an architecture, however, there should be atrusted channel of communications so that there is a “man in the middle”to handle the linking of identities. For example, while a user mighthave a public identity of harvey@mac.com, the system might have createdan additional identity of b75486+hank@harvey.members.mac.com. In thiscase, the “b75486 identity” could, in accordance with some of theinventions described here, be a system-generated encryption key foradded security, but it is not required.

Persons of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that at least someof the various embodiments described herein can be combined together, orthey can be combined with other embodiments without departing from thespirit of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other features of the invention, its nature and variousadvantages will be more apparent upon consideration of the followingdetailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of a network system in accordancewith one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an illustrative flowchart of a general view of a process foroperating the network system to add assets in accordance withembodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an illustrative flowchart of a general view of a process foroperating the network system to view assets in accordance withembodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an illustrative flowchart of a general view of a process forprocessing changes to an asset in accordance with embodiments of thepresent invention;

FIG. 5 is an illustrative flowchart of a general view of a process forcreating and applying rules to a project having multiple users inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is schematic diagram of a sample system configuration of anetwork system in accordance with some of the embodiments of the presentinvention;

FIG. 7 is an illustration of creating abstract identities in accordancewith some embodiments of the present invention; and

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a security system at work in accordancewith some embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows a simplified diagram of network system 100, which can beoperated in accordance with some of the principles of the presentinvention. Network 100 includes catalogs 110, interface framework 120and storage 130. Catalogs 110 include a series of catalog units which,for convenience, have been labeled sequentially, catalog units 112, 114,116 and 118. Persons of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate thatcatalogs 110 can include any number of catalog units, as will becomemore apparent from the discussion below. It should be noted that catalogunits 112, 114, 116 and 118 (as well as other catalog units withincatalog 110) can be, for example, servers that store catalog cardinformation and/or notification servers that handle communicationsbetween authorized users of assets, changes to assets, etc., as isdescribed in more detail below.

Interface framework 120 is a representation of the network components,which may be hardware, software or a combination thereof, which operateto control various aspects of network 100. These components can includecatalog manager 122, asset manager 124 and security manager 126, anoverall framework level application program interface (API) would beused to interconnect operations between the managers and other parts ofnetwork system 100 and any client applications that use framework 120.For example, catalog manager 122 keeps track of and helps users managethe catalogs resident on catalogs 110. Asset manager 124 similarly keepstrack of and helps user manage the assets resident on storage 130.Security manager 126 manages various security issues, such as creatingunique system IDs for each user, applying sharing preferences asrequested by the users, creating and managing security keys that areassociated with the appropriate data elements as they are stored andretrieved on the system, etc. The functionality of each of thesemanagers is discussed in more detail below.

Storage 130 includes a number of separate, unrelated data storage units(which may, themselves, include a number of interconnected storageunits). For example storage 130 can include storage units 132, 134 and136. Each of storage units 132, 134 and 136 can be, for example, ahigh-capacity server that can be used by network system 100 to storeassets of the users using system 100. The storage units, however, canalso be distributed so that some are network devices and some are not(for example, storage units 132 and 134 can be network devices and unit136 can be a local device). Stored assets can include, for instance, theactual digital photos in a users photo library, and/or the actualdigital versions of all of the music in a users iTunes library, ordifferent representations of that data as derived by client softwarefrom the originals.

A general representation of how system network 100 may be used to storeassets in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention isshown in FIG. 2 (additional details are provided below with regard toother figures). System flow 200 can be initiated when a user creates anasset in step 202. That asset could be created locally, for example, onan iPhone by taking a photo with the built in camera. That asset willeventually be stored in one or more of storage units 132, 134 and 136(or any other storage unit in storage 130).

For that asset, multiple pieces of reference information are extractedand/or created in step 204 (one piece of reference information thatmight be created could be a nonvolatile “digital fingerprint” for theasset). For example, for a given digital photograph asset, the referenceinformation may include one or more thumbnails of the photo (which, inaccordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention, mightbe stored as either separate assets or separate representations of asingle asset as expressed through a single “card” in a catalog), such asat different resolutions, one or more keywords, the GPS coordinateswhere the photo was taken, the name of the event that the photo isassociated with. More or less information may be included in any givenreference information, except that the reference information should notinclude the digital asset itself, so that the size of the card (orcards) representing the asset are substantially smaller than the size ofthe asset—for example, a video asset may be on the order of 4 GB whilethe reference information for that asset could be on the order of 1,000bytes. The extraction/creation of reference and/or meta informationcould typically be carried out within framework interface 120 or in theclient application itself. In particular, catalog manager 122 couldperform the extraction/creation process. This portion of the frameworkcould be resident on the local computer, or it could be locatedelsewhere on network 100.

Interface framework 120, can do several things as well. Framework 120,through catalog manager 122, can interface with an address book in step206 to determine where the reference information should be propagated to(the addresses, as is described in more detail below, can be utilized asa foundation for security, as well as being used as a hint as to wherestorage should occur), and it applies that address informationaccordingly. Once the address book information has been applied, asecurity operation can occur in step 208. Security operation 208 appliesa set of given access rules and creates a set of access keys inaccordance with some embodiments of the present invention, the detailsof which are set forth below. The security operation could be carriedout entirely by security manager 126 locally or could be assisted bysecurity components on network 100. One or more virtual cards arecreated in step 210 by combining the reference information from step 204with the address book and security information of steps 206 and 208. Forexample, the user may have selected individuals and/or groups ofindividuals to have access to the assets. Catalog manager 122 can carryout the creation of the cards with the resulting cards then being placedin catalogs 112, 114, 116 or 118. This step could also be assisted byother catalog manager components running on network 100.

Catalog manager 122, in step 212, sends the cards to one or more ofcatalogs 112, 114, 116 and 118, where the cards are stored. Notificationof the existence of the new cards (or of modified cards) is sent out instep 214, which can also be executed by catalog manager 122 or by othercatalog managers running on network 100. In at least one embodiment ofthe invention this notification can be very simple (such as a “direct”communication among the catalog managers running on network 100) or morerobust using one or more e-mail messages that can have varying levels ofautonomy. This process can also be optimized so that there can be fewercopies of the updates sent which can further enable rapid updates (thismay also entail existing user updates as well). For example, at thehighest level, notification step 214 could simply identify assets thate-mail recipient can access. Alternately, notification step 214 couldprovide an invitation that, if accepted, would cause the relevant cardsto be directly accessible by that recipient on his or her local computer(as described in more detail below). Another alternative might be thatthe recipient previously set a preference to accept all cards from thesending user, in which case card manager 122 could automatically providedirect access to the new/modified cards without any interaction with therecipient (it still may be desirable to send the recipient an e-mailnotifying them that access to new cards has been added to the localmachine).

Security manager 126 also performs an additional function in step 208,in that security information is also created for the asset itself (suchas the creation of access and/or encryption keys, etc.). The securityinformation is then handled by the asset manager 124 in step 216, whichprepares it for storage by combining it with the security informationobtained in step 208 (in one embodiment of the invention this might takethe form of encrypting the asset with the provided encryption key).Asset manager 124 stores the assets, in step 218, on one or more of thestorage units 132, 134 and 136 within storage 130. Once steps 214 and218 have been completed, the new assets stored on network system 100 areaccessible by the authorized users.

FIG. 3 shows an illustrative flow chart of a general view of a process300 for obtaining assets that have been stored on network storage. Auser, in step 302, selects a catalog from another user (assuming thatall or most of the catalogs for the user are stored locally; however, ifthey are not stored locally, the catalog is fetched). Selecting thecatalog may be, for example, simply selecting a library of another userwithin Apple's iPhoto application. The library could include any numberof photos. Under “normal” circumstances, where the user was selectingone of his or her libraries, all of the photos are typically storedlocally on a hard drive of the computer (in most instances, this will bethe case, where the user's own assets are at least stored locally).

In accordance with embodiments of the present invention, the user canselect a library of another user in the same manner as selecting alocally stored library. This selection can be as simple as selecting theother user from a list, which causes a list of that user's libraries tobe displayed so that one of those libraries can be selected. When theuser selects a library of another user, network system 100 operates suchthat the information and assets of the selected library are displayed ata higher level for the user with little, if any, delay. The user canalso be provided with the ability to choose and organization method tobe used. This organization can be different than the owner of thelibrary would have used. Organizational changes made by each of theusers do not necessarily need to be reflected to all users of a library(aka Catalog).

In this instance, because another user's library was selected, networksystem 100 provides, in step 304, the complete catalog that contains thelibrary including all the cards related to the library to the user.Catalog manager 122 retrieves the catalog and cards from one of catalogs112, 114, 116 and 118 and provides them to the user's computer vianetwork system 100. Because the size of the catalog is relatively small,the cards can be transmitted to the user and displayed on the user'scomputer or handheld mobile computing device with little to no latency(e.g., within the normal access wait times users find acceptable). Forexample, under normal circumstances in one embodiment of the invention,if a user selects a photo library, a series of photos from the librarywould be displayed and those photos, or thumbnails of those photos,would be retrieved from storage 132, 134 or 136 if not present locally.In accordance with embodiments of the present invention, the display ofphotos or thumbnails of photos of another user's library would betransmitted to and displayed on the user's computing device in roughlythe same amount of time as would have occurred if one of the user's ownlibraries had been selected instead (so that the user is basicallyunaware of where the photos, in this instance, come from).

The user then selects one of the photos from another user's library instep 306. Once again, if the user had selected a photo from his library,the computing system would simply retrieve the asset (i.e., the actualphotograph in this case) locally and display it (alternatively it may,for example, simply be stored in local cache memory). In response to theselection of the other user's photo, network system 100, in step 308,operates to retrieve the photo from wherever it is stored. To effectuatethat retrieval, asset manager 124 operates to retrieve the selectedphoto from one of storage units 132, 134 and 136 (the system can beconfigured, in accordance with another aspect of the invention, toautomatically select the particular asset or assets that are appropriatefor the device being used and the context that the asset is to beused—in this instance, for example, by only retrieving the resolutionsof the photo that can be fully displayed on the requesting device). Theretrieved photo can first be stored in a local cache managed by assetmanager 124 so the subsequent requests for the photo can be satisfiedfrom the cache, and returns it to the user's application via framework120.

Once the photo was retrieved, the computing device displays it, in step310 (this step may also require decrypting the retrieved asset). Theprocess of retrieval and display should be relatively transparent to theuser, so that the user's experience is similar to what might occur ifthe user had selected a locally stored photo. Once the user hascompleted using the asset, the asset may be erased from that user'slocal computing device's cache in step 312 (the erasure step could, forexample, be an option provided to the user). This may occur, forexample, if the user closes the individual picture or if the user exitsthe application in which the asset was being used.

There are various ways, however, in which network system 100 can operateonce the asset has been delivered to the user's computing device and hasbeen altered by that user. One of those instances is illustrated in FIG.4, which shows how, in accordance with embodiments of the presentinvention, network system 100 addresses changes made to an asset by anon-owner of that asset (assuming the original user gave permission tothe current user to modify the asset.

As shown in FIG. 4, a user modifies an asset that is not owned by thatuser in step 402—for convenience, the asset will continue to be referredto as a photo, but can be any asset, such as a song, a ringtone, adigital video, a spreadsheet file, etc. Rather than actually modify theasset itself, network system 100 acts to record the changes that are tobe applied to the asset, in step 404, using framework 120 and the localcomputing device (and those modifications can be stored as metadata).Even though the changes are being recorded separately from the asset,the user cannot tell the difference because the displayed image, in thiscase, shows all of the changes that have been made. For example, if theuser accesses another user's photo and crops the photo, the systemrecords the dimensions and location of the crop and applies the croplocally so that the user instantly sees the change that was made, butthe asset itself is not altered in any way (the dimensions and locationof the crop could be stored as metadata that is associated with thatindividual user's view of another user's photo). In another mode ofoperation the invention could actually modify the asset data itself inresponse to user requests. These modifications could be stored asalternative versions of the asset, yet still be associated with the same“card” as the original.

The user may continue to make additional changes “to the asset” whichwill be similarly recorded and displayed (such as adjusting the whitebalance of the photo). Once the user has completed working on the file,the user indicates that he is committed to the changes in step 406. Thiscan occur by many different mechanisms such as the user simply closingthe photo itself (by clicking on the CLOSE box instead of quitting theapplication and possibly responding to a dialog box that could ask, forexample, “Do you want to save changes?”), or by quitting theapplication. After the user has committed to the changes, framework 120updates the card, in step 408, that contains, in addition to otherinformation, all of the changes that were made to the asset (or asoutlined above uploads the modified data to one of the stores 134, 136or 138 and associates it as a new version of the original asset. Yet,still associated with the card.). The card can also include, forexample, an identification of the user who made the changes, the timeand date the changes were made, the application used to make the changes(e.g., Apple's iPhoto and Aperture programs can both be used to modifydigital photos), etc. The system can decide whether to update thedigital file or to create a “new” version of the asset itself instead ofstoring just the metadata recording of the changes.

Once the card has been created, an optional step 409 may occur relatedto security (step 409 is shown in FIG. 4 as a dashed box to furtherindicate that it is an optional step based on the security settings asapplied to a given user or group of users). If additional securitymeasures are required (such as, for example, that the modifying userrequires an additional level of limited access to the modified asset orencryption), security manager 126 can be called upon to createadditional security keys to append to the card prior to the card beinguploaded to one of catalogs 112, 114, 116 and 118 in step 410. After thecard has been placed in a catalog, network system 100 creates and sends,in step 412, one or more messages to the original owner of the asset andany other authorized users to let them know that the asset has beenchanged. The updated card can relate, for example, a thumbnail of therevised photo (if a “new” digital asset was created) and/or it cancontain the actual instructions (i.e., metadata) for the revisions.

The decision of which information is to be included in the card can beuser selectable in various forms, or it can be determined by the system.For example, the user could be provided with a series of boxes to selectwhich types of information to include, as well as the size of each unit.This could aide the user in fine-tuning the system's operation to anacceptable level of performance. Alternately, the user could simply begiven something like a graphic slide bar in which the scale could, forexample, be the amount of information stored locally versus access time.Another option for the system may be to make all such decisionsinternally based on estimated performance characteristics. For example,if the size of the thumbnail is significantly larger than the size ofthe photo editing instructions, it may be more efficient and provide theuser with improved performance to actually send the changes.

Embodiments of the present invention can be applied to various differentenvironments. For example, the description above related specifically todigital photos and collections of photos (e.g., organized into events).The embodiments of the present invention can be applied to anycollections of assets, such as an iTunes music library, a digital videoproject or series of projects, and/or an integrated project that canutilize assets from multiple different applications, such as Apple'sKeynote presentation application (in which video clips, digital photos,graphics and text can be integrated).

When utilized for an integrated project, embodiments of the presentinvention can enable various different individuals to update andmaintain different pieces (i.e., assets) of the overall presentation. Asthose pieces are updated, they are virtually instantly updated in theproject for all authorized users. For example, if a user updates a videoclip using Apple's iMovie or FinalCut applications, and that movie islocated on one of the Keynote presentation slides, embodiments of thepresent invention will create a card as described above containing thechanges to the video clip. The card will be transmitted to allauthorized users who will be able to view the updated video clip almostas soon as the revisions have been made as they apply the metadataencapsulating the changes that were made. The authorized users can, inthe event that the application of metadata changes fails, be providedwith the modified version of the asset itself (which will, invariably,be a slower process).

Moreover, while the present discussion has been focused on actualassets, such as digital photos, digital movies and digital music, theembodiments of the present invention can also be utilized to effectcommon changes across applications for information other than assetsthemselves. For example, if multiple users are working on editing alarge photo shoot in which different photographers took thousands ofpictures, embodiments of the present invention can be utilized tocontrol and modify some of the metadata associated with all of thepictures and/or the project itself.

In conventional systems, while a single user could select all of thephotos in a project or library and try to apply a metadata change toeverything selected, this technique is prone to errors. For example, ifa user might believe that all of the photos have been loaded andtherefore, applies one or more global metadata changes to all of thephotos in the library. There is a strong likelihood that extra photosadded to the project will be missing those global changes. In addition,this technique simply does not work in the instance where multiplepeople are adding photos to a single library or project.

In accordance with some embodiments of the present invention, projectlevel metadata and/or rules can be shared and applied across multipleusers. FIG. 5 shows a diagram of system process 500, which illustrateshow a project may be created and used by multiple users, where globalrules can be set and applied across multiple computing devices. Process500 begins when a host (who could also be one of the users) creates aproject in step 502. This step could occur, for example, using Apple'sAperture photo management application to set up a project called “AnnieJr.,” where a staff of five photographers shoot photos for a children'stheater. Under normal circumstances, each of the photographers wouldprovide their photos to a single person for editing and processing. Thiswould result in a potentially long period of time before the cast andtheir families would get to view and purchase photos from the show.

In accordance with some embodiments of the present invention, the hostcreates a group list that, as described above, causes access and a linkto the catalog containing one or more cards to be sent to each of theusers on the group list. The notification, in step 504, can notify theusers that the asset(s) have been created and/or notify the users thatthey are authorized to add and modify information in the project. Thehost can have the option of requiring an affirmative acceptance, in step506.

The host and the users can set rules in step 508 that relate to theentire project. The rules can be individual rules that may be applied toevery asset added to the project (such as the name of the project, orthis instance the name and date of the show). Alternatively, the rulescan be high level rules that apply to the project, such as a rule thatautomatically adds the name of each submitter to the metadata appendedto each asset. As described above with respect to FIGS. 2-4, each of therules can result in a change that is distributed to all authorizedusers, or network system 100 can create a single card that relates toany and all project rules (or some combination thereof). Interfaceframework 120 can then modify the behavior of the relevant applicationappropriately when the user is working in the given project.

Each of the authorized users can begin utilizing the project almostimmediately after the host sets up the group list. For example, each ofthe photographers can go straight from the photo shoot at Annie Jr. totheir home or studio and download the photos from their cameras into theproject as assets in step 510. This will cause those assets to berepresented by cards and associated with the project, which will alsopropagate the proper information to the catalogs, etc. The application,having already received a rule to append the user name to each assetpublished by that user, will automatically, in step 520, apply that ruleand add additional metadata to each card previously added to the projectto include the user name of the user who adds the photo to the project.Once the photos are loaded into the project, each of the authorizedusers can modify any photo, regardless of whether they published thephoto, as shown in FIG. 4 and described above.

Some of the advantages of these embodiments of the present inventioninclude the fact that each of the users can work on the entire projectregardless of how small or large a percentage of the assets that useradded to the project. In addition, these techniques can be utilized sothat everything in the project behaves in the same manner, regardless ofthe “capacity” of the computing device the application is running on. Inthis manner, network system 100 enables the application to rely on thesystem to accomplish certain tasks pertaining to (but not limited to)distribution of data, coordination of data, metadata, derivative data,alternate representations, organization of large quantities of data, andchanges to both instead of having to rely on each of the individualusers, thereby providing greater consistency and dependability.

An additional advantage that may be obtained from these embodiments ofthe present invention is the high speed transfer and responsiveness tomultiple user interactions resulting from newly realized efficienciesthat are possible when the two techniques—asset management and metadatamanagement—are established as separate and independent channels. Networksystem 100 can be globally asynchronous, while the metadata informationaccess can be locally synchronous.

Other advantages of some of the embodiments of the present inventionrelate to the fact that users can “feel” like they have much moreinformation at their fingertips on their computing devices than theyactually have. Importantly, network system 100 can provide any of theinformation they do not have locally in a relatively speedy manner sothat the user does not necessarily realize the sought after informationis being downloaded from another location.

One example of the power of the embodiments of the present invention canbe seen when looking at one of Apple's current product, the 8 GB iPhone.Using the techniques described herein, a user could have the ability tolook through 30 or 40 GB of photos on that 8 GB computing device,because most of the reviewing would be accomplished using cards andthumbnails tailored to the device instead of the actual full resolutionassets. For example, a sample photo library on iPhoto having roughly14,000 photos would have roughly 45,000 associated files and could takeup more than 42 GB of space. Under normal circumstance, without theadvantages of some of the embodiments of the present invention, it wouldbe impossible to view that library on an iPhone. When that iPhone ispart of network system 100, however, that same iPhoto library can beviewed on the iPhone through the use of a card catalog that takes upless than 4 MB of space. Thus, not only could the user of the 8 GBiPhone view more than 42 GB of photos, the user could also have accessto virtually as much digital music as he had on his iTunes library on adesktop or laptop computing device (and have access to a large quantityof video files as well).

FIG. 6 shows a sample system architecture 600 for network system 100which can be operated in accordance with some embodiments of the presentinvention. System architecture 600 includes librarian services 602,business offices 604 and 606, offsite storage 608 and small user sites610 and 612. This illustration is given to shown, among other things,the scalability of some aspects of the techniques of the presentinvention.

Librarian services 602, which includes server 603, could provide networksystem 100 with a centralized root and arbitrator that has location,routing, security, and management information. Business office 604 isrepresentative of an information technology center in a given city for acompany, and includes catalog servers 622 (which hold and manage thecatalogs for that business center's users) and notification server 632(which delivers reliable notifications to authorized users). As shown inFIG. 6, business office 604 does not store any assets locally.

Business office 606, on the other hand, includes catalog servers 624,notification server 634 and on-site storage servers 644 (which hold allof the assets referenced by a catalog). Architecture 600 can utilizeoff-site storage 608, which includes storage servers 646, in differentways. Business office 604 can store all of its assets in storage servers646, while business office 606 might utilize off-site storage 608 tohandle overflow conditions and to store backup images off site forsafety. Business offices 604 and 606 can be different offices or asingle company that are configured differently, or they can simplyrepresent two different companies entirely.

In addition to business offices 604 and 606, architecture 600 includessmall business offices 610 and 612, which are configured in anothermanner. In particular, small businesses 610 and 612 each include asingle server, 658 and 659, respectively, that handles the catalog andnotification functions. Each small business also includes an on-sitestorage server, 648 and 649, respectively, to store all of the assets ofthe respective business.

All of these components are coupled together via interface framework120, which is represented as dashed line 660 in FIG. 6. Interfaceframework 120, optionally working with librarian service 602, canadvantageously rely on direct notifications and/or e-mails for thedistribution of the cards for the catalogs.

One issue referred to above that is important to some of the embodimentsof the present invention is security, as carried out by security manager126. For efficient operation, security manager 126 could provide theuser a level of security that works with existing authentication systems(such as user name and password systems). Security manager 126 couldalso provide the user with an easy way to manage access control lists(ACLs), which would then govern the relationship between users, cards,rules and assets. In this manner, any given “owner” of an asset caneasily control which users and/or groups of users can view the assetsand which can modify them.

One way in which the security can be accomplished is shown in securityconfiguration 700 in FIG. 7. Configuration 700 includes address card 702and identity representations 720. Address card 702 can be a commonaddress card that can include a photograph for identification 704, nameinformation 706, e-mail information 708 and any other information usedto identify individuals or groups. The information on address card 702is the information used by “the general public” to identify anindividual.

Identity representations block, which can be maintained by securitymanager 126, 720 includes one or more identifications that networksystem 100 can automatically generate behind the scenes (so that theuser does not need to be aware of the multiple ways in which she isidentified). These identifications can include top-level e-mailidentifier 722 as an “anchor” that other users can easily use to setACLs for a given entity and a series of system-generated IDs, such asGroup 1 ID 724, e-mail ID 726 (the system, in most instances, would usee-mail 720 or 726, but not both) and Group 2 ID 728. Network system 100generates, on an as-needed basis, IDs to which it appends a security key730 (shown generically as key when, in reality, each key is unique).

In the example shown in FIG. 7, system-generated ID 724 includes thefirst initial and last name of the user (without any space between them)followed by the identifier of the group. There will, in all likelihood,be additional users within this group that will have different firstinitial and possible different last name, but the same extension (shownin FIG. 7. as JOE.GROUP1.MAC.COM). Identifier 726, on the other hand,simply includes the user's e-mail address appended with a security key.Identifier 728 is similar to identifier 724, but for a different group.

FIG. 8 shows an illustration of how security manager 126 can operate inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention. Security manager126, which is running on server 802 (which may be, at least in part,similar to librarian services 602 or could be running in framework 120),generates an auto-lock key 804 (in this case, the sequence “B1234”) foruser Sarah's email address “sarah@e-mail.” As shown by ID representationblock 806, user Sarah 808 currently only has one ID representation 810,which links the auto-lock key 804 to the user's email “sarah@e-mail.”Now, user “sarah@e-mail” grants access to a card and/or catalog to user“John@email.net.” The invitation 814 may contain information aboutassets, a project, etc. Security manager 126 can perform checks to seeif john@email.net has any identity in the system. If no identity exists,security manager 126 creates one by generating an autolock key 818 thatis linked to the john@email.net address 816.

In order to maintain security, this process should be performed outsideof Sarah's control so that she cannot see the autolock key under anycircumstances. Accordingly, that task should be performed by librarianservices 602. Librarian services 602 can send the invitation from Sarahto john using the email address john@email.net. Attached to that emaileither as a web-link or as some other traditional attachment should beJohn's specific identity block 816 (like block 806 for Sarah) thatcontains his auto-lock key and linked email address.

John's system would receive this block and check to see if he had neverused the system before, in which case the system would use it as hisonly identity. The system would also use the key to access Sarah'sshared information. If, on the other hand, John had already establishedan identity block 824 with key 822 (like Sarah's 806) then the system(working with Librarian services 602) would instead add the newauto-lock key and linked email to the list of “identities” for John.Thus, librarian services 602 would be updated so that if someone elsegranted john@email.net access to something it would not generate a newkey but rather would use an existing one.

Security manager 126, running on librarian 602, or a similar systemcomponent, keeps track of all of the different IDs propagated for asingle user, and can easily link one to another. In this manner, theusers are freed from having to keep track of everyone's ever changingIDs.

Once John tries to access the information on the card he received fromSarah by presenting his identity, he is permitted to have theappropriate access to the information. Operations regarding John, as arecipient of new key information from someone else, are controlledautomatically. Whenever he receives a new key generated by someoneelse's request, such as Sarah, his security manager links the new keywith his existing identity record(s) for all of his other keys.

These techniques can provide a number of advantages as compared toconventional systems. In accordance with embodiments of the presentinvention, network system 100 is capable of generating a virtuallyunlimited number of unique identities for a given user. One advantage ofmultiple identities for a single user is the ease with which groups, andtherefore ACLs, can be managed because they are seen as being behind a“single” identity to users (each with their own view). Moreover, sucharchitecture can enable the system to permit the user to change or addto his ID(s) without negatively impacting the system. For example, ifuser “e-mail” changed his ID to user “Hank” security manager 126 couldsimply change e-mail identifier 722 to “Hank” (and possibly, but notnecessarily, change ID representation 726 from “e-mail” to “Hank”). Allof the other IDs can remain constant. The system could alternatively,simply add the new ID to the old one so that the user could utilizeboth.

The above-described embodiments of the present invention are presentedfor purposes of illustration and not of limitation.

1. A method for sharing information comprising: storing an asset in amanner in which it can be retrieved regardless of its location; creatinga card having information about the asset; distributing the card to oneor more authorized users; and enabling the one or more authorized usersto utilize the asset based on information on the card.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the asset comprises a plurality of assets and enablingcomprises: utilizing the cards to provide the one or more authorizedusers with a way to view a list of all of the stored assets so thatthose users can operate on any of the stored assets.
 3. The method ofclaim 2, further comprising: acquiring the selected asset and providingan appropriate form of it to the appropriate authorized user on acomputing device of that user.
 4. The method of claim 3, whereinenabling further comprises: allowing at least one of the one or moreauthorized users to revise the asset.
 5. The method of claim 4, furthercomprising: collecting the revisions to the asset and storing a recordof those revisions with the original card; and distributing the revisedcard to the one or more authorized users.
 6. The method of claim 5,further comprising: deleting the asset from the computing device once itis no longer needed.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein deleting theasset occurs when the appropriate user chooses to commit to changes madeto the asset.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: addingsecurity information to the card after it is created.
 9. A system forenabling a plurality of users to share information comprising: a firstportion of a storage unit for storing cards; a second potion of astorage unit for storing a plurality of assets; and an interfaceframework for providing one or more authorized users with at least onecard for each asset stored in the second portion, the interfaceframework enabling the one or more users to view an asset selected fromthe plurality of assets regardless of whether that asset is stored localto the one or more users.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein theinterface framework further comprises: a first communications networkthat enables the one or more authorized users to view a list of groupsof stored assets so that the one or more authorized users can select anyof the assets on the list.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein theinterface framework further comprises: a second communications networkfor acquiring the selected asset and providing it to a computing deviceof the appropriate user who selected that asset.
 12. The system of claim11 further comprising: revision circuitry that records revisions made tothe selected asset on the card for that asset.
 13. The system of claim12, wherein the interface framework distributes the revision card to theone or more authorized users.
 14. The system of claim 13, furthercomprising: deletion circuitry that deletes a downloaded asset when thatasset is no longer needed.
 15. The system of claim 9, furthercomprising: security circuitry that adds security information to eachcard as it is created.
 16. The system of claim 9, wherein the firstportion is organized as a catalog of cards.
 17. The system of claim 9,further comprising: security circuitry that adds security information tothe catalog as necessary.
 18. A method for providing access control forcontent sharing comprising: receiving settings from a host definingaccess rights for users to content published by the host; creating atleast one abstract identity for the host; generating a unique auto-lockkey for the host; and appending the auto-lock key to at least a portionof content the host granted access rights to users.
 19. The method ofclaim 18, wherein receiving comprises: accepting inputs from the hostwhich define specific access rights by at least one user to assetspublished by the host.
 20. The method of claim 18, wherein receivingcomprises: accepting inputs from the host which define specific accessrights by at least one group of users to assets published by the host.21. The method of claim 20, wherein receiving comprises: acceptinginputs from the host which define specific access rights by at least oneuser to assets published by the host.
 22. The method of claim 21,wherein creating at least one abstract identity comprises: creating aunique abstract identity for each of the at least one group of users;and creating additional unique abstract identities for each of the atleast one user.
 23. The method of claim 18, further comprising: creatingat least one user-abstract identity for a user who has been grantedaccess rights by the host.
 24. The method of claim 23, furthercomprising: appending the auto-lock key and the user-abstract identityto information sent to the user to enable the user to access the contentpublished by the host in accordance with the defined access rights. 25.The method of claim 24, further comprising: converting the user-abstractidentity to a different user-abstract identity; appending the receivedauto-lock key to the different user-abstract identity; and accessing thecontent published by the host in accordance with the defined accessrights.
 26. A system for providing access control to content publishedby a host comprising: a content storage system that stores content; asecurity manager that creates abstract identities for hosts and users,and creates unique auto-lock keys when a host grants access rights to atleast one user, the security manager being capable of coupling theauto-lock keys to specific content upon request of the host; and aframework interface that communicates secured messages from a host to atleast one user when the at least one user is provided access to contentpublished by the host.
 27. The system of claim 26, further comprising: auser interface that receives settings from a host defining access rightsto at least some content published by the host.
 28. The system of claim27, wherein the framework interface utilizes an auto-lock key to providethe at least one user with access to content published by the host inaccordance with the defined access rights.
 29. The system of claim 26,further comprising: storage management circuitry that automatically addsstorage capacity to the storage content system based on storage capacityreaching a threshold.
 30. The system of claim 26, wherein the contentstorage system comprises: at least one portable storage device.
 31. Thesystem of claim 30, wherein the at least one portable storage devicecomprises: a portable FLASH drive.
 32. A method for organizing data in asystem comprising: storing application specific metadata for a pluralityof applications; storing project specific metadata for a plurality ofprojects; and storing a plurality of assets, each asset being associatedwith one or more of the applications and also being associated with oneor more projects.
 33. A method for providing a reference to contentcomprising: identifying a storage location for content; creating atleast one descriptive reference to the content, the descriptivereference being at least a magnitude smaller in size that the content;storing at least the identity of the storage location and thedescriptive reference in a card that can be provided to users who can begranted access to the content.
 34. The method of claim 33, furthercomprising: appending the identity of the publisher to the card.
 35. Themethod of claim 34, further comprising: appending an auto-lock keyassociated with the publisher to the card.